Hands-On: Nerf Super Soaker Tri-Strike Crossbow @iSoaker.com

[isoaker]

Recently acquired one of these:

nerf_super_soaker_tri_strike_crossbow_23.jpg (51.72 KiB) Viewed 3824 times

It's actually a little longer and a touch heftier in weight than I expected, but being a pump-action blaster with a relatively short pump stroke, I'm not expecting much in terms of performance. There is a small switch on the bottom-left of the blaster towards the front side which, upon sliding, will release the crossbow's arms and they will swing open. However, I haven't tried filling it with water yet to test stream performance. Also, while the arms will open automatically, they must be closed manually. Interestingly, they opted not to link the two arms via gear work, thus one can choose to retract one arm, but not the other, for whatever reason.

That said, my interest in doing in-depth reviews for the Nerf Super Soaker line as a whole is being reduced with each "new" blaster I've gotten my hands on recently. Sure, these things may have some fun styling elements and do shoot water to some degree, but they are a far cry from the Super Soakers that pull me into the whole water warfare website business in the first place.

Edit: I plan on completing the reviews on the first batch of Nerf Super Soaker water blasters I got before getting to this one. Two more to go...

[isoaker]

Was playing around with this blaster a little earlier... while its primary stream is ok, I expected the arm streams to be sort of how the good ol' Super Soaker XP85's side streams were more-or-less equivalent. I was wrong there.

The output from the side-streams is significantly lower than that of the primary stream. I need to figure out how to measure how much water is coming out, but taking a second look at the arm nozzles, they are definitely smaller than the already-not-that-large main nozzle. Oh well...

[isoaker]

Update: ok, I expected the side streams to have a lower output, but I hadn't expected it this low. While I don't have output measured yet (I'm going to have to take a video of the stream(s) firing and calculate time that way), the total amount of water pushed from one of the secondary nozzles was a mere ~1.6-1.7mL (~0.05oz.). With that level of soakage, I wonder, "Why bother?" I suppose it'll be like having a couple of squirt pistols shooting at the same time as one's main shot, but while it increases the area to be hit, overall output remains the same since pump volume remains constant as far as I can tell.

As some here have suggested, it almost seems like Hasbro is trying to make bad water blasters to get people to stick with their dart guns where they are the dominating brand.

[DX]

You know it's bad when an enthusiast-bred conspiracy theory starts to make sense to iSoaker. We've joked about it for years and years, but this year's line is really that bad.

[marauder]

How much water does the primary nozzle shoot?

[isoaker]

Its pump pushes ~22mL (~0.7oz) per stroke. I need to measure how quickly I can push it out through the nozzle to get its output, but 22mL/0.7oz is all you'll manage to deliver at best per shot.

After this year, I'm going to stop reviewing most of the pump-action Nerf Super Soaker models. I'm still torn whether I'll acquire them from a collection standpoint.

[SEAL]

^Didn't you say that last year? :p You oughta still make pages for the new models, but say something like, "Due to the unpromising performance of this product, iSoaker.com will opt out of giving it a full review."

Hasbro just wants to make cheap, easy-to-use water guns so that today's lazy youngster can have fun with minimal effort. At least maybe these guns will get 'em outside more...ah, who am I kidding?

[HBWW]

I think iSoaker's a bit late to the whole "what's the point of reviewing/collecting modern Super Soakers", and the "it shoots less water than expected" thing. I mean, come on, we saw where the brand's trend was headed in 2008-2010, and 2010-2012 pretty much showed that it wasn't coming back. The whole idea of Hasbro trying to push people to Nerf's more mainstream brands is no secret now.

iSoaker, with your supposedly further insight into the market than ours, I'm very surprised that you're surprised how bad this year's SS's are.

[isoaker]

iSoaker, with your supposedly further insight into the market than ours, I'm very surprised that you're surprised how bad this year's SS's are.

It's called "wishful thinking".

When one's been collecting and reviewing water blasters for... a long time, one tends to want to believe things will improve despite what facts present themselves. My rational side, of course, tells me, "Dude, what did you expect?" but my forever optimistic side still holds onto dreams.

That said, I'm not giving up on my dreams, but I will re-prioritize where I devote my energy.

[HBWW]

I always thought of a dream as something one has some means of attaining. If my dream were to bring the Super Soaker brand back to its glory days, I'd be dead serious on saving capital, studying business, and figuring out those things, then trying to make an acquisition. That's following a dream, which is distinct from, as you said it, wishful thinking. Although for me, it's generally more towards "ambitious thinking". Perhaps I'm not old enough to truly realize the sheer amount of energy required to be devoted to something to make it happen.

But regardless, that's where we're at. The market was what built us up, it was what made even today's community war's possible. However, it is also the primary inhibitor of growth now. (The barriers of entry to our hobby are getting higher.) Our membership is small despite the activity, but even just that little bit left is somewhat of a miracle when considering how things have changed in the last decade. (Yes, years before I myself picked up water warfare.)

There's not much else of it to say though. For myself, I have a job and currently don't want to shelve my other hobbies to devote all my free time to water warfare. That's my excuse anyway, for why I haven't worked on the Frozen Fury video. That said, I guess some of other things will have to give eventually, but not yet.

[isoaker]

I always thought of a dream as something one has some means of attaining. If my dream were to bring the Super Soaker brand back to its glory days, I'd be dead serious on saving capital, studying business, and figuring out those things, then trying to make an acquisition. That's following a dream, which is distinct from, as you said it, wishful thinking. Although for me, it's generally more towards "ambitious thinking". Perhaps I'm not old enough to truly realize the sheer amount of energy required to be devoted to something to make it happen.

Indeed, but for what it's worth, even during the glory days of Super Soaker, I avoided being tied to the Super Soaker brand and my dream is not (nor was it ever) to bring the Super Soaker brand back to its glory days. As for what my dreams actually do entail, let's just say I've already accomplished more than I thought I would, but that just makes me want to do more for water blasters and water warfare.

[marauder]

These pieces of trash make the Shot Blast look like a fire truck.

[isoaker]

Review posted for the Nerf Super Soaker Tri-Strike Crossbow

Don't expect to see too many more in-depth reviews on the 2014 Nerf Super Soaker line. I think I'll do one for the Hydrostorm and one for the Dolphina Bow Blaster (because it's different), then provide just overviews for the other items.

[the oncoming storm]

you list the Tri Strike as the largest 2014 new blaster for NSS when this http://www.target.com/p/nerf-super-soak ... A-14746068

is almost twice as large (in capacity)

[DX]

I think the Tri Strike has larger total dimensions. Capacity is irrelevant if size is the attribute.